Generally, escalators are installed on plural stories of buildings in such a way that the escalator are connected to each other in the zigzag fashion, unlike elevators which travels between a riding story and a desired story. Accordingly, the escalators are predominantly used in department stores in which various products are sold, subways, airports, terminals and the like, to which people flock, rather than business buildings. Recently, moving walkways, which are horizontal traveling type of escalators, are used even in the same story, in order to reduce traffic.
The handrails associated with such systems serve as handgrip and are intended to prevent passengers from falling down or slipping. To prevent slippage by the passengers, the handrails are commonly made of a rubber material.
Since the handrails come into contact with hands of a multitude of people, if sanitary maintenance of the handrails is not assured, various viruses, bacteria and the like harmful to humans are apt to propagate on the handrails. Therefore, the handrails must be always maintained in the clean condition. Up to now, sanitary maintenance of the handrails has been fulfilled by frequently mopping and cleaning surfaces of the handrails with neutral detergent or antiseptic solution.
However, since the conventional handrails of escalators must be frequently cleaned manually, there is a problem in that the maintenance of the handrail requires very high costs. In addition, since the cleaning work cannot positively sterilize and disinfect the handrails by a simple wiping operation, the passengers are exposed to hazard such as disease and bacterial infection due to viruses and bacteria existing on the handrails.
Since escalators are used to transport a multitude of people, it is possible to maximize the advertising effectiveness for products and corporations by providing advertising copies to the escalators. However, heretofore, there are only triangular guide plates positioned at intersections of crossed escalators to prevent passengers' heads from being caught in the intersections, and small advertising boards erected at transferring area between successive escalators, as the advertising copies.
In department stores, etc., of some countries, until several years ago, an escalator girl has been stationed for each escalator and the cleaning and disinfection of the escalator belt were effected at ordinary times by the escalator girl using a house-cloth to which disinfecting solution was applied. Such stationing of elevator girls, however, has been abolished due to the difficulty of obtaining a personnel for such purpose and to an increased personnel expenses. However, there has not yet been developed a simple device capable of effecting during use of the belt the cleaning and disinfection of the belt in a manner sufficient to act for the role which escalator girls have played. For this reason, escalator belts, including those used in subway stations which have rapidly increased in recent years, are either left to be dirty or, at best, taken care of by an occasional cleaning. Such a situation is deleterious from the standpoint of public health and further, it gives an unclean feeling to those who utilize the escalator.